A study of reversible gamma-induced structural transformations in vitreous Ge23.5Sb11.8S64.7 by high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

The structural origin of reversible gamma-induced effects in vitreous Ge(23.5)Sb(11.8)S(64.7) has been investigated by high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The changes in valence band spectrum from gamma-irradiation suggest a decrease of sulfur lone pair electron concentration accompanied by changes in bonding states of S and Ge. The appearance of additional doublets in the core-level XPS spectra of Ge, Sb, and S atoms for gamma-irradiated sample is described by the formation of over- and under-coordinated charged defect pairs (Ge(3)(-)-S(3)(+)) as a result of radiation treatment. The results verify the switching of Ge-S covalent bonds into S-S bonds as the main microstructural mechanism for gamma-induced optical effects in this glass.     

Rigid Nanoporous Urea-Based Covalent Triazine Frameworks for C2/C1 and CO2/CH4 Gas Separation

C2/C1 hydrocarbon separation is an important industrial process that relies on energy-intensive cryogenic distillation methods. The use of porous adsorbents to selectively separate these gases is a viable alternative. Highly stable covalent triazine frameworks (urea-CTFs) have been synthesized using 1,3-bis(4-cyanophenyl)urea. Urea-CTFs exhibited gas uptakes of C₂H₂ (3.86 mmol/g) and C₂H₄ (2.92 mmol/g) at 273 K and 1 bar and is selective over CH₄. Breakthrough simulations show the potential of urea-CTFs for C2/C1 separation.     

A convenient one-pot synthesis of 7-hydroxy-isoflavones from resorcinol with substituted phenylacetic acids

A mild and highly efficient one-pot synthesis of 7-hydroxy-isoflavones is reported. The acylation of resorcinol with various phenyl acetic acids in molten zinc chloride affords an intermediate deoxybenzoin which without isolation is subjected to cyclization with N,N-dimethylformamide in the presence of boron trifluoride diethyl etherate and methanesulfonyl chloride to afford the 7-hydroxy-isoflavone without the formation of any by-product.     

Vector piezoresponse force microscopy.

A novel approach for nanoscale imaging and characterization of the orientation dependence of electromechanical properties-vector piezoresponse force microscopy (Vector PFM)-is described. The relationship between local electromechanical response, polarization, piezoelectric constants, and crystallographic orientation is analyzed in detail. The image formation mechanism in vector PFM is discussed. Conditions for complete three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the electromechanical response vector and evaluation of the piezoelectric constants from PFM data are set forth. The developed approach can be applied to crystallographic orientation imaging in piezoelectric materials with a spatial resolution below 10 nm. Several approaches for data representation in 2D-PFM and 3D-PFM are presented. The potential of vector PFM for molecular orientation imaging in macroscopically disordered piezoelectric polymers and biological systems is discussed.     

The structure of a metallic glass system using EXELFS and EXAFS as complementary probes

The short-range atomic order around all three constituent atoms in a prototypical bulk metallic glass (BMG) system was probed in a complementary way, using extended X-ray absorption fine structure for neighborhood of the higher atomic number elements, and extended energy loss fine structure (EXELFS) for the lower atomic number ones. The Pd_xNi_(80−x)P₍₂₀₎ system is a prototype for a whole class of BMG formers which are 80% transition metal and 20% metalloid. We find that the structure of these BMGs could be explained in terms of those of glasses at the end of the BMG range, namely, Pd₆₀Ni₂₀P₂₀ and Pd₃₀Ni₅₀P₂₀. The binary phosphide crystals near x=0 and 80 are found to be simulate very well the local atomic structure of Pd₃₀Ni₅₀P₂₀ and Pd₆₀Ni₂₀P₂₀ glasses, respectively. The best glass former in this series, Pd₄₀Ni₄₀P₂₀, is best described by a weighted average of Pd₃₀Ni₅₀P₂₀ and Pd₆₀Ni₂₀P₂₀ structures.     

Effect of Building Block Transformation in Covalent Triazine-Based Frameworks for Enhanced CO2 Uptake and Metal-Free Heterogeneous Catalysis

Covalent triazine frameworks (CTFs) have provided a unique platform in functional material design for a wide range of applications. This work reports a series of new CTFs with two new heteroaromatic building blocks (pyrazole and isoxazole groups) through a building-block transformation approach aiming for carbon capture and storage (CCS) and metal-free catalysis. The CTFs were synthesized from their respective building blocks [(4,4′-(1H-pyrazole-3,5-diyl)dibenzonitrile (pyz) and 4,4′-(isoxazole-3,5-diyl)dibenzonitrile (isox))] under ionothermal conditions using ZnCl₂. Both of the building blocks were designed by an organic transformation of an acetylacetone containing dinitrile linker to pyrazole and isoxazole groups, respectively. Due to this organic transformation, (i) linker aromatization, (ii) higher surface areas and nitrogen contents, (iii) higher aromaticity, and (iv) higher surface basicity was achieved. Due to these enhanced properties, CTFs were explored for CO₂ uptake and metal-free heterogeneous catalysis. Among all, the isox-CTF, synthesized at 400 °C, showed the highest CO₂ uptake (4.92 mmol g⁻¹ at 273 K and 2.98 mmol g⁻¹ at 298 K at 1 bar). Remarkably, these CTFs showed excellent metal-free catalytic activity for the aerobic oxidation of benzylamine at mild reaction conditions. On studying the properties of the CTFs, it was observed that organic transformations and ligand aromatization of the materials are crucial factor to tune the important parameters that influence the CO₂ uptake and the catalytic activity. Overall, this work highlights the substantial effect of designing new CTF materials by building-block organic transformations resulting in better properties for CCS applications and heterogeneous catalysis.     

Effect of Silane flow rate on microstructure of Silicon films deposited by HWCVD

Hydrogenated silicon films ranging from pure amorphous to those containing small crystallites in large crystalline fraction are prepared using the HWCVD technique without using any hydrogen dilution which is supposed to be necessary for the deposition of nanocrystalline Si films. The only parameter that is varied is Silane flow rate. The deposition rate ranges from 6–27 Å/s. The band gap of the films (1.8–2.0 eV) is high compared to the regular films, which is attributed to the improved short and medium range order as well as the presence of low density amorphous tissues in the grain boundary regions. The films show improved stability under long term light exposure due to more ordered structure and presence of hydrogen mostly as strong Si―H bonds.     

Spectrally Efficient 3D Optical CDMA Using Coherent Spatial Phase–Time Coding/Decoding

We demonstrate a WDM compatible optical CDMA system incorporating 3D spectral phase–time encoding/decoding. We provide coding and decoding using binary [0, π] phase chips for six users at 6 Gb/s, with a single coded signal separated with an acceptable bit-error rate ≤10 ^?9. The coding and decoding method is based on 3D coding of tightly spaced phase-locked laser lines that is compatible with conventional WDM networking. In optical CDMA systems, we propose to provide encoding and decoding done by converting Hadamard codes (used for conventional CDMA system) to the phase codes. We report that duo-binary modulation format is the best with adequate bandwidth compression. We confirm that better simulation results are reached in terms of the Q factor and bit error rate.     

MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF THE DEPLETION OF ORGANIC POLLUTANTS BY BACTERIA WITH EXPLICIT DEPENDENCE ON DISSOLVED OXYGEN

In this paper, a nonlinear mathematical model is proposed and analyzed to study the depletion of dissolved oxygen caused by interactions of organic pollutants with bacteria in a water body, such as lake. The system is assumed to be governed by three dependent variables, namely, the cumulative concentration of organic pollutants, the density of bacteria and the concentration of dissolved oxygen. In the model, the coefficient of interaction of organic pollutants with bacteria depends upon the concentration of dissolved oxygen nonlinearly and explicitly, which is the main focus of this paper, has never been studied before. The stability theory of differential equations is used to analyze the model and to confirm the analytical results numerical simulation is performed. The model analysis shows that if the coefficient of interaction mentioned above depends upon dissolved oxygen explicitly, the decrease in its concentration is more than the case when the interaction does not depend on dissolved oxygen and consequently the depletion of organic pollutants is also more in such a case.     

Effect of Silk Fibroin Reinforcement on the Properties of Potato Starch-Polyvinyl Alcohol Blend Films

Starch and polyvinyl alcohol composite films, reinforced with raw and methylmethacrylate-grafted silk fibroin particles, were prepared by the solution-casting method on leveled plates. Silk fibroin was used as reinforcement for starch and polyvinyl alcohol (St/PVA) blends in order to improve their mechanical and water-resistance properties. The composites were plasticized with citric acid and cross-linked with gluteraldehyde. The reinforced films showed an increase in tensile strength with decrease in elongation at break. The optimized samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and were studied for their antibacterial properties. The biodegradable behavior was studied by the soil burial method.